Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has installed a high performance computing (HPC) and large-scale storage solution based on SGI Altix ICEInfiniteStorage in its Brisbane facility for the processing of computationally intensive environmental modeling applications. 8200 and

SGI Altix ICE 8200 and InfiniteStorage systems provide core infrastructure for applied science, and will enable DERM’s Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence (QCCCE) to better forecast climate change and conduct remote sensing of vegetation growth in the region. Researchers will study the sustainability of the state’s multibillion dollar tourism industry with regard to the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

SGI provided DERM with a balanced, adaptable, high-end compute and storage solution, as well as a reconfigurable computing environment amenable to changing resource loads and priorities.

SGI Altix ICE 8200 is the foundation of the QCCCE’s solution. The HPC configuration is comprised of over 800 processor cores and 2.7TB of memory producing, 9.1 Tflops of peak performance. SGI InfiniteStorage RAID arrays, installed in energy efficient, water-cooled racks, provide 230TB of storage. SGI Global Services provided the QCCCE comprehensive technical assistance, HPC training, application porting and tuning, data migration, assistance with implementation of the chilled water cooling system, and a range of other implementation and deployment services.

“Altix ICE systems are at the technological forefront, enabling the world’s leading environmental research facilities to explore local and regional resource impacts,” said Philip Chua, managing director and vice president of Asia Pacific and Japan at SGI. “We are delighted to supply DERM with this leading HPC server and storage solution, and the technical services to help advance its critical work.”